Manufacturer: Martin

The Martin T1K uses beautiful all solid Hawaiian koa, which gives a gorgeous, woody tone. It is also very individual to each instrument, with every ukulele having differently patterned wood grain. The T1K in the picture is relatively plain compared to how they can come - we can provide you pictures of the actual instrument in action if you wish.

As soon as you strum the Martin T1K you instantly realise why koa is traditionally used in top end ukes. The highs really sparkle, with strong sustain against a rich, warm and woody backdrop. The Martin T1K's koa tonewood sounds great now, but it is also a tonewood that will open up in time, meaning this tenor ukulele is an investment that will improve tonally, and probably in value too, over the years.

The Martin T1K tenor ukulele has a satin finish, and the looks are really all down to the lovely grains and patterns offered by the koa. The most simple of black and white soundhole rosettes is in evidence, but aside from this and the gold Martin logo on the crowned headstock, that is the lot in terms of added visual appeal. Other than that, it is all about the wood.

There are 20 frets on a 17" scale rosewood fingerboard, a compensated white tusq saddle and Grover open geared tuners with white buttons. The nut is 34mm, and the neck profile is quite shallow, meaning it does feel easy to reach complex chord positions. The Martin T1K generally feels nicely made, nicely balanced and pleasant to play - as it should for uke of this pedigree. The ukulele is fitted, naturally enough, with Martin ukulele strings. The advertising blurb for these strings suggest they have a mellow tone, but in reality they emphasise the highs a little too much and make the sound a touch thin, if loud. If you read Martin T1K ukulele reviews online, other people have noted this and suggested other string brands as a better match. Personally if you like a brighter tone, Savarez really keeps that power and volume while creating a much more complex tone. And when we tried Worth Browns, well, that sacrified a touch of volume but really unearthed the character of the koa tonewood.

I suppose it would be difficult for Martin to use any other strings than their own for this T1K ukulele, but had they, we'd suggest they'd have turned this uke from very good to excellent. Luckily, if you want to buy a Martin ukulele from us, you can experiment to get your preferred string match or ask us to fit the strings for you as part of our set up process.